I own nothing. and if implied sex and sexual situations make you squeamish, don't read. also, sorry for the long wait between chapters. my computer all but exploded and it took me forever to re-write what i lost.

"But I look stupid!"

"You look classy."

"That's why I look stupid," Caleb heard Ridley wail from inside his mother's room. "I look like a fairy godmother threw up on me."

"You look amazing," Kate argued. Ridley growled and Caleb snorted as Pogue tried hard not to choke as he drank a glass of orange juice.

"I can't breathe!"

Caleb heard his mother sigh in an exasperated voice, "You're not supposed to be able to breathe."

"Wow, this thing makes my boobs look amazing!"

"I told you."

"Now quit fidgeting so we can finish. He's going to be here any minute."

"What if he stands me up?!" It was the third time she had asked in the past hour.

"He's not going to stand you up," Kate, Sarah, and Evelyn cried in unison. Pogue stared up at Caleb in amazement. "Man, she really likes this guy. I mean really."

There was silence for several minutes. "What if he thinks I look stupid?"

"Ridley, you look hot. If I were a guy, I would do you," Kate sighed, "now quit being a baby and just suck it up. When this is all over and done with, you better have gotten laid because going on a date with some one that looks like that and not copping more than just a feel is a waste."

"Kate!"

"Well it is!"

Pogue lifted his gaze heavenward and shook his head. There was a heavy knock at the front door and Caleb started down the stairs to the sound of squealing and Ridley sighing, "I'm going on a date, not getting married! Why is this turning into a big thing?!"

Caleb opened the door and was surprised to see a chauffuer standing in front of a sleek limousine parked in the drive. "I'm here to pick up a Miss Scott."

There was the sound of several pairs of heels clacking down the stairs in a rush. Ridley peered over Caleb's shoulder and made a confused face. "Who're you?"

"I'm here to drive a Miss Scott out to meet Major Adam Ca-"

"That's her," Kate said, giving Ridley a shove out the door. Ridley stumbled to a halt and turned to glare at her friend. "What was that for?!"

"Just shut up and go!"

Ridley tossed her friend one more glare and climbed into the limousine. The driver shut the door, smiling at her. She glanced down to her left and noticed a solitary red rose sitting in the seat beside her. Ridley picked up the rose tentatively and inspected it. It was perfect, each petal flawless. If anyone were to ask her exactly how long it took to get to the country club, Ridley couldn't have told them. She spent the entire time staring at the rose cradled gently in her hands. Ridley only noticed she had arrived when the car ceased moving for a prolonged period of time. Ridley felt herself begin to fidget nervously as she tried her best to wait patiently for the chauffeur to come around and open the door for her. She checked her makeup and the chauffer opened the car door. Ridley climbed out, taking the chauffeur's offered hand and smoothed her hands down the front and back of her strapless dress. Ridley looked around herself curiously when someone stepped in front of her. "Miss Scott?"

She blinked up at the finely dressed man. "How did you know?"

"Major Casey said I'd know you when I saw you." He grinned. "He was right. I'm to escort you inside."

He held out his arm and Ridley took it wordlessly. What was he up to? She turned to look behind her. One of the hotel workers had already gathered her bags and was heading toward the door. The doorman held it open and nodded to her. She nodded back and let the man she was attached to lead her into the entrance. She looked around curiously. She had never been to a country club before. Looking around at the luxurious, stylish lobby, Ridley felt extremely out of place, like she did whenever she was at Caleb's house- its was too rich and classy for the likes of her. It felt stifling even though the rooms were preposterously over sized and over furnished. Maybe it was the richness of the furnishings that made her feel so out of place. Ridley breathed in and out several times to calm herself.

"Well don't you clean up nicely." Ridley looked up in surprise to find Adam grinning down at her. Ridley couldn't help but blush as he took her hand, spun her in a circle and whistled. "Prettiest woman here, I'd say."

While Adam was indeed handsome in nothing more than a tee-shirt and work-worn jeans, nothing compare to the sight of him in his uniform. Ridley bit her lip and grinned. "You don't look half-bad yourself."

His grin widened as he tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and guided her off toward the ballroom. She was so busy smiling up at him that she didn't notice they had entered until she felt eyes on her and turned to find the every woman in the room staring at them with a raised eyebrow. "You'd think they'd never seen a red dress before," she mumbled to him, feeling immeasurably self-conscious.

"Don't pay attention to them," he snorted, "they're all uptight. From what I heard there was quite a political uprising in their horticulturist's club meeting...thing."

"Let me guess, the secretary forgot to bring this month's mini quiches and they demoted her to treasurer," Ridley replied dryly. Adam chuckled, "How'd you know?"

"You're not going to make me dance all night are you," she asked suddenly, "because when it comes to ballroom dancing, like waltzing and whatnot, I suck at it."

"Well, good, they'll all be staring at you for stomping on toes and not me."

Ridley raised an eyebrow at him, "How romantic and charming of you."

"Well, I am trying my best to sweep you off your feet," he said with a smirk and she grinned as they began to sway together to the music the band played. "Well, if that's the case, all you had to do is buy me a double bacon cheeseburger from Wendy's."

He rolled his eyes. "Now, you know, you're making this really hard on me."

"I have to," she said in explanation, "it's my job as a woman."

"How true," he laughed in amusement and pulled her closer. Ridley felt her cheeks redden and Adam grinned widely at her. "You're blushing."

Ridley's blush deepened and she averted her gaze to the floor. Adam laughed and Ridley's fingers curled into his shoulder at the rumble it sent through his chest. It was intoxicating. It reminded her idly of the men in those cheesy romance novels Sarah loved to read and fawn over. She wondered for a moment if she weren't one of those female heroines in the book. Her story would have made a great romance novel. Of course, just because everything was going smoothly presently didn't mean the ending would be happily ever after-especially if she was just going to end up getting screwed over just so a man could into her pants and drop her afterwards without so much as a "thanks for the great lay." Going through it once had been enough and she wasn't willing to go through it again. Not even for him. What made it all the more painful to think about was that even if he did admit that that was all he wanted out of it, she would go through with it. He was just too...everything.

"Hey," he said in a quiet voice, jarring her from her thoughts, "that's a very unhappy look you got there. What's wrong?"

She bit her lip hesitantly and looked up into his clear blue eyes, "Can I ask you something?"

When he nodded she dropped her gaze to avoid his. "I feel stupid asking this, but I need to. Why do you like me? Men like you don't go around giving girls like me roses and taking them to fancy balls at country clubs."

She looked around at the other guests in attendance. "And I'm not so oblivious that I don't know why some of the women here are giving me hateful looks. It doesn't take a genius to realize I'm not your type."

"Oh yeah, and what type is that?"

Ridley almost blinked in surprise at the amused tone of his voice. "Not me?"

"Shows what you know," he snorted, smiling down at her. "the type of woman I really like is the kind that always says what they mean. She doesn't take what she doesn't have to from anybody. And she about the most beautiful thing in the world when she blushes. That's the kind of woman a man like me holds on to."

Though he was smiling the look in his eyes held no humor. They were softer than she'd ever seen them and it was startling. "You're serious."

He nodded solemnly. "Oh, I'm playing for keeps."

The intensity of his stare, the boldness of his blue eyes, was shattering. Ridley moved closer to him, burying her face in the crook of his neck and shivered when she felt the arm wrapped around her waist tighten. She felt as if her her heart was situated in her throat and her head throbbed from the intensity of its erratic, fast-paced beating. She couldn't understand why the sharp, aching pain in her chest felt so wonderful and terrible all at once or why she desperately wanted hold onto him forever while simultaneously wanting to shove him away and run like hell. "I think," she whispered quietly into his neck as she clutched his shoulder, "that I like the idea of you keeping me."

"You better be sure of that," he warned, "'cause I don't plan on letting go once I've got you."

He pulled away so that he could look into her dark eyes. "I mean it."

She nodded, biting her lower lip. "I wouldn't want you to."

Somehow, the look in his eyes got even softer and when he smiled down at her it was genuine; achingly so. Ridley smiled back shyly and his smile morphed into a grin as he tugged her back to him, resting his chin on the crown of her head. Ridley couldn't help but wonder how something so complicated as this had become so simple then decided situations and emotions such as this were just inexplicably so.

"You're being a dick, Tyler," Reid snapped suddenly, ignoring the suprised looks of everyone around him as he kept his eyes on the glass of coke in front of him. Tyler seemed to be the only one with Reid's have grown a heart. "How am I being a dick? We all know what's happening up there. What's going to happen if it hasn't happened already!"

Caleb glanced around Nicky's briefly. Nobody was really paying attention to their raised voices. Most of the occupants were to drunk to realize that a fight was brewing. Sarah caught his eye with a pleading look. Caleb sighed inwardly. Why did he always have to break up the spats?

"Tyler, while I understand you're concerned, Reid's right," he said calmly, before adding," Ridley's old enough to make her own decisions and she's smart enough to know when someone isn't being on the level with her-"

He looked at Reid and winced. "Well, for the most part."

"Besides, it's not your place to dictate with whom Ridley conducts her personal affairs," Kate added, earning an elbow in the side from Sarah. Kat ignored it and continued, "You had your chance and you blew it."

"Why can't you just be happy for her?"

Again, Reid was the focal point of surprise as he glared at his younger friend. "If you cared half as much as you claimed, you'd be happy for her."

Tyler glared belligerently, crossing his arms and pouting in a way that reminded Caleb and Pogue much of the way Reid would whenever anyone had won an argument with him. "Well, what if something does happen and she gets hurt?"

"Then you stick by her side and make sure she knows she has your support," Reid replied easily, "I mean, that's what you do when you care about someone. You stick up for them and you take care of them when they're hurting."

"He's too old for her!"

"Oh, come on Tyler," Pogue groaned, "now you're just grasping for a reason to be pissed."

Tyler shook his head adamantly. "No, it's a legitimate concern."

Sarah shrugged. "Well, then if you're right, they'll break up."

"But if they don't break up-and they won't-you," Kate said as she pointed at him and leveled him with a fiery stare, "will support her. You will be nice. You will try to accept her relationship with him and you won't say anything rude or try to ruin it."

Tyler stared back at her defiantly for a few moments before finally looking away. "Fine," he grumbled. Kate tossed her hair over her shoulder and smirked triumphantly. "Good."

Burko, who had been silent for the majority of the conversation, was slumped down in his seat in the booth, taking long pulls from his beer bottle. He down it sullenly and slammed it down on the table top, his foul mood punctuating the action. "Let's just hope she doesn't do anything stupid."

Tyler snorted, his face marred by a self-pitying scowl. "It's probably already too late for that."

Ridley wasn't nervous, but sure of her decision. He hadn't been lying when he had said he wanted her for keeps. It didn't stop her from wanting to run and hide from him. While he posed no physical threat he was large and intimidating just the same and the entire situation, the emotions involved in all of it were just as intimidating. The dim lighting of the hotel room cast shadows across Adam's face and Ridley had to catch her breath as he dimmed them further. Ridley let her gaze fall to the bed and found that on some level it was more horrific than facing the inevitable. It held so many promises for her in that moment, both physical and emotional and suddenly what she had thought to be so simple earlier was now infinitely more complicated, more tangible. That bed with its soft crimson coverlet and it's pristine white sheets would define everything.

His large, callused hand ghosted over her shoulder slowly, travelling up to curl around her slender neck and cradle the base of her skull as he came to stand before her. His other hand slid sloiwly down her back, stopping as it hit the satin of her dress. Ridley's breath hitched painfully in the back of her throat as she waited, but nothing happened. She slowly lifted her gaze upward until it locked with his, chocolate meeting cobalt and sparking alive. Ridley's focus suddenly came back to the present as heat suffused her body, her skin becoming painfully sensitive and her heavy, deep breathing became shallow as the her nervousness transformed into want, need, a slow burn that spiraled through her. The possible wrongs turn into absolute rights and that primal heated look in his eyes became all encompassing as it reinforced his earlier claim wordlessly.

Ridley let her own hand travel up to his abdomen, sliding up to bunch in the smooth fabric and letting her fingers scrape hard against him. The burning in his eyes became more feral though his touch remained gentle as he pulled the pins from her hair while he simultaneously unzipped her gown. Ridley suppressed a moan, letting it catch in the back of her throat when his hand came back up to glide over her shoulder and dip below the loosened bodice of her dress. Ridley paid no heed to her dress as it fell to the floor or to the sensation of her hair tumbling over her shoulders as he pulled the last pin out of her hair.

Her eyes never left his, even when her weight sank back on the bedand he stripped the last bits of clothing from her body. Even though he continued to stare at her, into her, she knew that though his gaze had not left hers, he could see her all, ever bit of naked skin and it made the cold burning sizzle and crackle its way into every pore and every cell. All she could do was watch as he slowly removed his own clothes, eyes locked on hers, despite her chest heaving with her labored breathing And just as he had seen all of her, she was seeing all of him. He was hard where she was soft and big were she was small and she wanted it all the more.

The room became shadows as he covered her, his hands running over her skin just as her ran over his and he licked and nipped his way down her body. Ridley shuddered as she watched him, parting her legs further as his mouth latched on to her inner thigh. Ridley let out a low moan as she breathed out raggedly, "How many women have you loved?"

"One," he breathed against her as he looked up at her with burning eyes and pulled his mouth from her pale skin. "Just one. And you."

A/N: so i was gonna give them an all out smut scene, but i figured no one would be into to OC's getting it on instead of an OC with one of the sons, so i refrained. but if you were hoping for smuttage of the ridley/adam persuasion, ask and you shall receive. i can always work it into the next chapter. but whatever. i hope you enjoyed this chapter and i'm very sorry for the delay.